Ouch! Red Sox clobber White Sox again for huge sweep

Monday

Aug 27, 2007 at 12:01 AMAug 27, 2007 at 2:40 PM

In four-game series, Boston scores a collective 46 to Chicago's 7.

Paul Ladewski

Prior to the series finale Sunday afternoon, White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen joked that he felt like a Mexican piñata, so much abuse had the Boston Red Sox inflicted on him and his team the previous two days.

In that case, Guillen probably felt like he had been on the wrong end of a bullfight after his team was the victim of another 11-1 bloodbath at U.S. Cellular Field hours later.

This is no bull: The White Sox were swept by a collective 46-7 margin in the four-game series.

“They swept us this time, but we swept them in the big one,” Guillen said in reference to the American League Division Series two years ago. “That’s when it counts.”

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the series marked just the fourth time since 1900 a team scored 10 or more runs each time in a four-game series. It was the first occurrence in the AL since the 1922 season.

Then again, things can get out of hand when a team out of the division race meets another with World Series expectations this late in the season.

The White Sox started four players who began the season at Triple-A Charlotte, and the lack of big-league experience reared its ugly head once again.

“Even if you try, I don’t think you can play at this level and give up 10 runs or more four days in a row,” Guillen said. “Not to take anything away from (the Red Sox), because they have good hitters. But we didn’t pitch the way we thought we would at all this weekend, and we didn’t hit. We were flat for four days.”

The Red Sox reached the magic number when transplanted third baseman Josh Fields misplayed a fly ball in left field with two outs in the ninth inning, an error that paved the way for three unearned runs.

The game was the first in the outfield for Fields this season. And the ball was the first hit to him in the game.
“The ball waited that long to come after me,” deadpanned Fields, who estimated he had 15 minutes to prepare for the sun, the wind and the high sky before the game. “It was different. The wind blew, and the ball came back toward the infield. Hopefully, I won’t make the same mistake (today).”

White Sox starter Javier Vazquez breezed into fifth inning with a one-hitter, only to have a Bobby Kielty bunt single open the floodgates.

Three batters later, Dustin Pedroia delivered a two-run single, then David Ortiz lowered the boom with a two-run home run.

“It’s embarrassing to lose four games, especially the way we did,” said Vazquez (11-7), whose three gopher balls trumped his 10 strikeouts in six innings. “It’s not even funny.”

Kielty and J.D. Drew also hit for the distance.
“The Red Sox have a swagger about them right now,” batting coach Greg Walker said. “Take a look at Kielty. If ever there’s proof that hitting is contagious, then he’s it. Oakland released him, but he looks like a cleanup hitter now. The guy always had talent, but put him in a positive situation and it’s easier to hit.”

If there’s a sliver of good news for the White Sox, then it’s that the two teams won’t meet again until next season. Not only did the Red Sox dominate the season series by a 7-1 margin, but they averaged a cool 9.6 runs per game in the process.

“The last four days, yes,” Guillen responded when asked whether the Red Sox qualified as the best team in baseball.

Nobody was heard to argue with him.

More White Sox coverage can be found online at www.dailysouthtown.com/sports

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